The present invention is directed to a method for matching paint, more particularly, the invention is directed to a computer-implemented method for matching paint on vehicles which utilizes a video monitor display to assist the user in selecting an optimally matched color coating.
Vehicle paint color variability within the same target color can exist due to slight variations in the color of the paint formulations or application conditions used by the original equipment manufacturers (OEM). These variations may occur from one manufacturing location to another manufacturing location, or from one production run to another of a given color on the same vehicle model, or even during the course of a particular production run. Although these differences may be unnoticeable on separate vehicles, when they are present on adjacent body panels of the same vehicle, the differences can be visibly perceptible. These color variations make it difficult to attain excellent color matching in autobody repair shops.
When a car body is repaired, the repair area must be repainted. The color of the repair must match that of the rest of the car such that the repair area is not distinguishable to the observer. The refinish paint is often not a close enough color match since, within a given color code, color generally varies from one car to the next, or even from one part of a car to another. The finisher must then adjust the color of the paint by adding small amounts of colored tints, which in many instances requires the finisher to make several iterations to close in on an acceptable match. A number of methods have been devised to automate the process of paint matching. A typical method uses a device (e.g., a spectrophotometer) that measures color characteristics of the painted surface, and matches the measurements to those archived in a computer database associated with paint formulas. In this method, the computer database is located at the repair facility. The paint formulas are then used to prepare a paint, which is then applied to a test panel and compared to the original paint on the vehicle. Typically, the paint formula is not an adequate match and must be manually adjusted until a match is obtained. This rather inefficient process significantly affects labor cost of a finishing procedure.
Another traditional approach has been to provide color chips of all colors and alternates available. A color chip is simply a color coated panel, which represents an available paint or color formulation. The finisher may then select a target color range, and select a best matched paint formulation from a library of color chips. Unfortunately, this approach is very expensive for the paint suppliers as customers do not expect to pay for the color chips. Also, due to variations in the color chip preparation process, color chips sometimes differ in color properties from the actual target color sprayed by the user.
Yet another approach are spectrophotometer based color matching systems (e.g., DuPont ChromaVision®). These systems measure the color being matched and calculate a formula to provide a color match. These systems, however, do not provide an accurate visual display of the color match. Addition of such a display would allow the painter to have greater confidence in the match. Also, as these systems are generally expensive, many users are not willing to pay such a high price.
Given these typical situations, vehicle repair body shops and jobbers must make choices of colors or alternates to get the right color on vehicles being painted. Since they likely relate well to visual displays of colors and alternates, offering a method of using a computer both to calculate and display color alternate choices would simplify the color matching process and make it more effective from a customer usage point of view. Such a method of displaying colors would also assist OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) customers when making vehicle styling choices. Therefore, there is a need for computer-implemented methods, which utilize on-screen video monitor displays to assist the finisher in selecting an optimum color matched color coating.